Your Turn Part 3
by Artemius
Summary: Rose and Lissa's final showdown with the Master.
1. Chapter 1

"I didn't lead a rebellion."

"Well you threatened to if the Council didn't do what you wanted."

"I did not!" I squeezed my eyes shut, searching for patience. I knew Lissa wasn't really the one accusing me of anything. But it turned out that when you marched into a Council meeting and warned them that their actions were going to have consequences, people didn't just let that go.

When I opened my eyes, Lissa was staring at me oddly. I recognized the way she looked at people when she was trying to read their aura. "Stop that," I snapped.

"Oh, it's fine," she brushed aside my concerns. "That barely counts as using Spirit."

I didn't feel like having another Spirit argument with her. Particularly when we were already in the middle of a different argument. "Why are you trying to read me, anyways? Do you think I'm lying to you?"

"Of course not. I didn't even mean to. I just did it without thinking about it."

"See? That's what I'm talking about." Looked like we were having another Spirit argument after all. "You're working so hard on this Strigoi vaccine that you're losing control. It's okay to not get it, Liss. I'm okay. I won't have another breakdown over it. And it's not like my blood was a complete waste. Look at all the tattoo ink Sydney was able to make."

"For all the good it's done," Lissa grumbled.

There, at least, we were in perfect agreement. It made sense to give what tattoos we could to guardians. They were the ones on the front lines of the fight with Strigoi. But lots of the Moroi royalty thought they should get the tattoos, in order to protect the elite of our society, they said. The problem was, no one wanted to be the first Moroi to get tattooed in case something went wrong.

It was very unlikely that anything would. Humans and dhampirs could get the tattoos without any problem, so there was no reason to believe that Moroi couldn't. But there was only one way to be sure and few people were willing to take the risk. Lissa was, of course, but the Council insisted that it was too dangerous for her to be the guinea pig. Others, like Mia, had also volunteered, but being tattooed first was too much of an honor for a commoner like her.

They drove me nuts, too proud to let someone else be the first and too scared to be first themselves. Dimitri and I both agreed that Christian would probably be the one to finally get inked. He was royal, so no one could say that he didn't deserve it, even if they did think it privately. And most of the elitist royals wouldn't care if something did go wrong with his tattoo.

It was killing me to sit on the sidelines and watch them fight over this, but I had been banned from the Council chambers. According to Lissa, I was lucky not to have been banned from the entire Court. All because the royals were mad that I had broken up their meeting several weeks ago and bought Lissa the time she needed to prevent them from making guardian service mandatory for all dhampirs.

"I'm not leaving you here without me," I said, getting back to the original argument.

"I'm perfectly safe at Court, Rose. I know you don't like Nathan, but he's a very competent guardian. It's best if you're out of the public eye for a little while. And you do need to go back to school eventually. It's either catch up or drop out."

I wouldn't have minded dropping out, but since the whole point of me being enrolled there was to keep an eye on Lissa, I wasn't even considering it. "So I'll catch up. But you need to be there too. I'm only there so that you can get your degree."

"I'm keeping up with my work. We have an arrangement with the school administration for times like this when I can't leave Court."

"So you just explained to them that sometimes the good vampires need their queen so she can't go to class?"

Lissa laughed, which had been my goal. "Of course, they took it very well." I laughed with her, and for a minute it felt like we were just two best friends. "We actually told them that I have a sick aunt."

"If your aunt is a metaphor for Moroi society, I'm afraid she's terminally ill."

"Don't say that." Lissa gave me a light shove. "We can still fix things, Rose. I need you to believe that. It's the only thing that makes all these ghastly politics bearable."

"I do believe you can fix things, you know that. I just wish it were easier." I sighed and paced around the room restlessly. "I need to get out, stretch my legs, get some air. Jake's on your door. You'll be fine."

"I know that; you're the paranoid one. Go, have a nice walk. Find Dimitri afterwards and tell him you need cheered up."

"And what do you think he's going to do about it?" I asked with an exaggerated eyebrow wiggle.

Lissa snorted. "That is entirely between the two of you. I don't want to hear about it."

It felt good to laugh with her as I slipped out of the room. I exchanged nods with Jake and then headed downstairs and out of Lissa's building. Stepping out into the sunshine, I immediately felt myself relax. It was weak sunshine, since it was still very early in the morning, but considering the nocturnal schedule I was on these days, it still felt blindingly bright. I set off on a slow stroll around Court, enjoying the solitude. At this hour, most respectable Moroi were in bed, along with any guardians that weren't on active duty.

Dimitri was most likely back at our apartment, wondering where I was. I should probably go to him, but I was too restless for home and bed. I wanted to try and walk this mood off first. Unfortunately, I didn't think the answers to my problems could be found on a early morning stroll.

I just wanted life to be simple again. I wanted the Strigoi to be the bad guys my only concern to be keeping Lissa safe from them. Instead, I was mired in the sticky world of Moroi politics, forced to compromise on issues that seemed like they should be black and white to me, and punished for standing up for what I believe in. The bloodwhore compounds I'd abhorred and feared as a child turned out to be loving communities where people could live in peace and the Moroi Court, which was supposed to be the center of power in our world, was ineffectual and petty, squabbling over unimportant power struggles and ignoring the critical issues facing our society.

I kicked a rock off the path, then followed it for another, stronger kick. Chasing it through a few trees, I popped out along another path and stumbled into what could only be a very bad situation. Sydney was standing on the path, unsurprising since she would be craving sunshine as a human in vampire society. Facing her were Wesley Drozdov and his cronies, Brent Badica and Lars Zeklos. These three brought a whole new meaning to the word degenerate. It wasn't uncommon to find them out and about when everyone else was tucked up in bed, and they were never up to anything good.

I didn't know the full story, but there was bad blood between them and Adrian, and nothing good could come of them trying to corner his wife in a secluded section of Court at this hour. Sydney's face flooded with relief when she saw me, and I was surprised to see traces of fear in her eyes. I couldn't think of another human more capable of taking care of herself at Court than Sydney Sage Ivashkov. This wasn't good.

"Hey, look at this," Lars slurred. "The blood whore's come to join the fun."

The insult barely registered with me as I studied the situation. Lars was obviously drunk. The other two were hiding it better, but I had no doubt that all three had been drinking heavily for a while now. There was no telling what else they'd been ingesting. It made them unpredictable and dangerous, but I wasn't scared. It would be a cold day in hell before three impaired Moroi could take me down.

I deliberately turned my back to the Moroi, snubbing them. "Come on, Sydney." I gestured her down the path in front of me.

"Hey!" Wesley grabbed my shoulder. I turned on him so fast he sprang back, holding up his hands in a peaceful gesture. "You can go if you want. But leave the feeder here."

"She's not a feeder," I snarled.

"She's a human," he sneered, "of course she's a feeder. It's all they're good for."

"Well, maybe not _all_ ," Brent threw in, grabbing his crotch obscenely.

I started for him, but Sydney grabbed me. "Rose," she whispered, "you can't start any more trouble. We have to walk away."

"I didn't start it," I pointed out, but I knew she was right.

"Jealous, blood whore?" Wesley asked. "It is hard to see how this feeder snagged Adrian. I mean, you, it's obvious what he saw in you. But her...well, there's got to be something special hiding in there to keep him coming back for more. We're gonna find out what it is." He stepped forward and made a grab for Sydney.

I turned into his path and used my shoulder to bump him back. "No, you're not." I used my guardian voice: firm, calm, and full of authority. "Step back, now."

"Make me," he challenged.

He had no idea how badly I wanted to. But I had to be on my best behavior. "Step back and we all walk away. If you don't, your behavior will be reported to the appropriate authorities."

He smirked at me. "Oh no, Hathaway's going to report me. Like that hasn't happened before."

I knew he was right. These three had been breaking rules their entire lives while their families swept it under the rug. Tonight would be no different. This was the world I lived in now, where money could buy immunity from any consequences and anyone without royal blood was fair game. As much as it made my blood boil, I was still prepared to let it go. Then Wesley brought his arm up and around, plunging something towards me.

I blocked automatically, my forearm smacking solidly into his. I was used to the pain of that contact; he wasn't. He cried out sharply and something clattered out of his fingers. The syringe lay on the path between us, glinting in the morning sun. This was more than harassing Sydney with a bunch of empty threats. This was an actual attempt to kidnap her as some sick retaliation against Adrian. My temper snapped and I saw red as I waded in with my fists up.


	2. Chapter 2

When a pair of long, strong arms reached around me, my first instinct was to whirl around and keep fighting. But then the feel of them registered, along with the scent I'd gotten used to curling up with at night.

"Roza, enough."

I let myself go limp in Dimitri's grip. Sharp pain in my hands had me looking down to see blood flowing between my knuckles. Wesley was quivering at my feet, badly beaten. There was no sign of Brent and Lars. I didn't remember them running off. I didn't remember knocking Wesley down, let alone beating him until he was nearly unconscious. I'd lost control like this before, when I was siphoning Spirit darkness of Lissa. But it had only happened once since our bond was broken, and then with a Strigoi. I didn't know what had happened with me.

I looked up at Dimitri, unable to find words for what I had done. My misery must have shown on my face, because he took it between his hands and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "It will be all right," he promised quietly.

"Rose." I turned at the sound of Lissa's voice. She had her arm wrapped around Sydney, comforting her. I wondered if she was more afraid of Wesley or of me. "What happened?"

Once again I tried and failed to find my voice. Sydney answered for me. "They had me cornered, wanted to do some dabbling. Rose came to my rescue."

Lissa's face went tight and hard at the mention of dabbling. "Rose, I can't say that I disagree with what you've done. But the rest of Court won't see it that way. If you get charged with assault on top of-"

"Charged?" Sydney interrupted. "Why would she be charged with anything? Once the facts are presented it's a clear case."

"The facts are a dhampir just attacked a royal Moroi in defense of a human." My voice came out flat. "And not just any dhampir. Me."

"The syringe they were planning on drugging me with is still lying right there!" Sydney insisted, pointing down at the path.

Dimitri picked it up carefully. I was amazed that it had survived our fight. I could only imagine what would have happened if I had rolled onto that thing while beating Wesley. It wasn't much, but with the way my luck had been going lately, I would take anything I could get.

"I'm sure we'll be able to clear all this up without any permanent damage," Lissa assured Sydney. "But it's not going to be pretty. Rose, you really need to get out of Court for a while."

I sighed, knowing that I'd blown any chance I had of winning my previous argument when I didn't just walk away from this mess. No good deed goes unpunished. And no Hathaway goes down without a fight. "I'll go if you come with me."

"Rose," Lissa started. She looked at Dimitri and blew out a long breath. "Fine. I'll go to school with you. Dimitri, take care of him."

With a grimace of distaste, Dimitri bent down and hauled Wesley up over his shoulder. He paused in front of me. "Please, Roza, try to stay away from trouble?"

"Someone needs to tell trouble to stay away from me," I grumbled.

He laughed softly and kissed me before disappearing down the path.

"You should probably get out of here for a while too, Sydney," Lissa said.

"I suppose I can go home," she agreed. "I've made most of Rose's blood into ink already. And there's not much use in me staying here to make more until they decide what they're going to do with it."

"I'd feel better if you stuck with Rose for a little bit," Lissa told her. "At least until we know if Wesley is going to attempt any retaliation."

"If there's going to be any retaliation, I'm not sure that Rose is the safest person to be around," Sydney pointed out. "She's just as likely a target as I am."

"Yes, but that gang is far too cowardly to attack her head on. It's much more their style to go after you." Lissa shot me a look, clearly wanting a little help.

"I can promise you that I won't let anything happen to you," I said. "Plus, I really could use some help catching up with school."

Sydney's eyes lit up at that. For some unfathomable reason, she actually enjoyed homework. "Well...I wouldn't want to lead any trouble back to Declan," she mused out loud. "And helping you catch up at school is really the least I could do after you just saved my life."

"Exactly." Lissa beamed at both of us. "Hurry back to your room and pack what you need. We'll leave as soon as we all meet in the parking lot." She turned and hooked her arm through mine. "I already have stuff at school, but you should probably pack a few things too, Rose. You haven't been there in weeks."

"You're really coming with me?" I asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"I'm really coming," she answered. There was something I was missing here, but I just couldn't find it. Sometimes I really missed our bond. She could never lie to me then. But there was nothing I could do about it now, and we really did need to get moving if we were going to be out of Court before trouble hit.

"Okay," I headed for home, dragging her along with me. "Let's go pack for school."


	3. Chapter 3

"This car smells funny."

"Rose," Lissa shot me a look over her shoulder from the front seat.

"No, she's right," Sydney defended me. "It's Declan's fault. He's always shoving things down the seat. Who knows what's back there."

"Charming," I grumbled. Oh the joys of children. "We could have taken one of the Court vehicles."

"Sydney didn't want to leave her car sit at Court. And this way it's more likely to look like she just went home." Lissa's voice was tight with impatience. Hard to blame her, since this was the fourth time we'd had this discussion. Or maybe the fifth. Still, I couldn't leave it alone.

"I could drive."

"My car, I drive."

"Yeah, you drive. You drive like an old lady."

"Rose!" Lissa snapped at me in earnest this time, turning around in her seat to glare at me more fully. "Lay off Sydney. I'm not going to spend this entire trip listening to you gripe about petty things because you're mad you didn't get to say goodbye to Dimitri."

I glared back at her, searching for an argument. The only thing was, she was right. I sighed and turned to look out the window. "I don't see why it takes so long to drop a jerk off at the Infirmary."

"Because people have questions when you show up with a royal who's been half beaten to death?" Sydney suggested tentatively.

"And you had to be safely out of range before those questions got answered," Lissa reminded me for the millionth time.

I sighed. "I should have just left it alone." Realizing how that sounded, I leaned forward to address Sydney. "I didn't mean- not that I should have left you alone. I meant I should have just walked away with you."

"I knew what you meant," she assured me. "And yeah, you could have walked away. But they wouldn't have faced any consequences for attacking me if you had."

"That's me," I mocked myself. "The noble avenger, last defender of justice and equality."

"That's exactly who you are," Lissa told me. "And I don't care how complicated it makes our lives. That's why I love you."

I sat back and picked up one of the books on the seat beside me. "If you really loved me you'd drop psychology. I hate that class."

"Well then you drop it," Lissa urged me. "I told you that you don't have to take the same classes as me."

"The whole point of me being there is to keep an eye on you."

"You don't have to build your entire life around me, Rose." Lissa looked to Sydney for help, but our driver was suddenly focusing very hard on the road. Lissa turned back to me. "What classes would you want to take?"

"I don't need to take any classes," I pointed out. "I'm already perfectly qualified for the job I want. Which is the job that I already have."

"Come on, play along," Lissa chided. "What if you weren't a guardian? What if I wasn't a royal? What if we weren't even Moroi and dhampir?"

"You mean human?" I scoffed at that before catching myself and looking at Sydney. She was apparently still suffering from mysterious deafness, eyes locked straight ahead. "Okay," I blew out a long breath. "What would I do?"

Oddly enough, I'd never really considered it before. I was a dhampir, there was no changing that. And all I'd ever wanted was to protect Moroi and fight Strigoi. I couldn't imagine doing anything else. My little experiment of living a quiet life in Baia had proven to me that I would slowly go insane if that was my real life. But I couldn't be a guardian forever. At some point I'd have to quit fighting so much. I'd get old eventually, if I lived long enough, and at that point it would be time to turn the job over to the next generation of dhampirs. Of course, someone would have to show them how-

"Personal trainer," it hit me suddenly. "I'd teach other people how to fight and defend themselves."

I thought it was a perfect fit, but Lissa's grimace wasn't exactly subtle. "What?" I asked.

"You're a great protector, Rose, but I don't know about teaching others. You can be a little..." Lissa fished for a word. Sydney came to her rescue.

"Intimidating."

"Yes," Lissa pointed at her. "Exactly."

"What? No!" I protested. "I'm not scary."

"Rose, you're terrifying," Lissa said with a laugh. "And it's actually very reassuring to have a terrifying person standing between me and danger. But it's not going to put your students at ease."

"Fine," I shot out at her, "you tell me what I'd be."

"I think you'd be a cop," she answered without hesitation.

"Wha-" now it was my turn to laugh. "Are you kidding me? With my authority issues?"

"Oh, yeah." Lissa frowned. "I guess that would be a problem."

I glanced down at the book in my lap and then back up with a smile. "No, no, I can work with this. I'd solve all my cases-"

"Close," Sydney interjected. "They don't say solve cases, they close cases."

"Whatever. I'd be brilliant, but I'd constantly be butting heads with people, right? So my captain would require me to do some sort of therapy junk with a psychologist."

Lissa grinned at me as she caught on. "I'd clear you for duty, of course, but only if you continued to meet with me to work through your many, many issues."

I stuck my tongue out at her. "During which time we'd become best friends, obviously."

"Obviously." Lissa shook her head at me. "You do realize that in this scenario, Nathan would be your captain."

"Ugh." That wiped the smile off my face. "He'd have me on desk duty for sure." I brightened up. "Oh! But I could redeem myself when a case came up that had ties to the _bratva_. And I'd heroically solve it with the help of a Russian agent who-"

"Okay," Lissa cut me off. "I don't need to know all your fantasies."

"I had to sit through enough of yours." I wiggled my fingers between her head and mine, indicating our past bond.

"Sorry, nothing I can do about that," Lissa shrugged. "But we do not need to hear all about you and Dimitri."

Sydney raised her hand. "Seconded."

"You guys don't know what you're missing," I told them. Too bad I knew exactly what I was missing right then. "It would have taken five minutes to say goodbye."

"Shut up, Rose."

A couple of quips sprang to mind, but I was stuck in the car with these two for a while longer. For once in my life I did the smart thing and shut up.

We got to school and hauled all of my and Sydney's stuff to our room. Looking around at the cramped space, I started to get a bad feeling. "There's not really room for three of us in here," I observed.

Sydney and Lissa exchanged looks. For a moment I didn't even care what it meant. I was just hurt to be the one left out. Lissa and I were always a team. Us against the world. So much for that.

"Knock, knock!" I recognized the cheery voice at our door and didn't bother turning around as Sydney rushed to her husband.

"You lied to me," I accused Lissa quietly.

"I told you I was coming to school with you," she defended herself. "I never said I was staying."

Adrian and Sydney started edging out the door. "I'll be in the parking lot when you're ready to leave," he called to Lissa.

Neither of us acknowledged him. "That might work for other people, but not us." There was a hot, heavy ball in my chest that was part rage and part hurt. "You lied to me."

"Yes!" Lissa finally admitted. "Yes, I told you that because I knew it was the only way to get you out of Court."

"Sorry to be such a bother," I sulked.

"Don't be like that," Lissa snapped. "You've been a bother every day of your life and you're not the least bit sorry for it. And neither am I. You did what you had to do, Rose. But now you need to face the consequences. And if all that means is pouting at school for a couple weeks while I clean up this mess, then I'd say you got off easy."

She turned on her heel to stomp out of the room, but I leaped across the small space to stop her. "Don't leave like that," I said. "I'm sorry, I know I just caused you a ton of trouble. Do what you have to do. Just...be careful. I don't like not being there for you."

Lissa softened. "Nathan is more than capable of keeping me safe at Court," she assured me. "And Dimitri will be there to look after me as well. You just concentrate on getting your grades up and watching Sydney's back."

"Oh, so she's staying." I had begun to think that was just misdirection as well.

"Yes. Adrian came to see her and give me a ride back to Court. Until we know how serious this is going to be, it's best if she keeps a low profile."

I stepped back to let Lissa go, only partially satisfied. I wanted to tell her to get me home quickly, but I knew that she would do the best she could without my urging. I should have promised to behave myself, but that sounded too much like something a child would say. I already felt small enough after being shuffled off to school so I'd be out of the way.

Apparently Lissa couldn't think of anything to say either. She just squeezed my hand and then left.


	4. Chapter 4

I think I handled the first week of school well. Some of my professors seemed rather disappointed to see me, but since the feeling was mutual I didn't hold it against them. The second week went even better, with my grades making a remarkable improvement, thanks to Sydney. I even think I would have made it through the third week okay. But then Lissa showed up.

I knew as soon as I saw her that she was using way too much Spirit. This is exactly what I had been afraid of. She needed me around. Other guardians could protect her from outside threats, though I'd never admit they could maybe do it as well as me. But only I could protect her from herself.

"Hey, here to do a little studying?" I didn't want to start our first visit in three weeks with a fight. I had a bad feeling that it was inevitable, though.

"Studying's boring," Lissa dismissed it with a flip of her hand. "Let's go do something exciting!"

I couldn't argue with her about the boring part, but I didn't want to know what she thought would be exciting in her current state. "Come on, what's more exciting than reading about dream interpretation? I had this really crazy one last night about a rabid hippo-"

"I don't need dreams," Lissa interrupted me. "I'll just look at your aura."

"Don't!" I snapped out, a little sharper than I'd intended to. "No more Spirit, Liss. You know you've been over using."

She held up her fingers less than in inch apart. "Just teeny bits. Just enough to get people to see our side of things."

I groaned and flopped over onto my bed. "You're using Compulsion on people at Court?"

"For _you_ ," she reminded me. "I'm doing this to keep you out of trouble."

"Well don't," I ordered her. "That's not the kind of help I need."

"Well it's not always about what you need," she said. "Right now it's about what I need."

"And what is that?" I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"A road trip!" she announced brightly.

"That's…" I tried to think of a way to describe it without starting a full blown fight.

"A great idea," Sydney finished for me.

I stared at her in shock. Usually she pretended to be blind and deaf when Lissa and I were fighting. When she did speak up, I counted on her to be rational. "Are you kidding me?" It was never good when I had to be the voice of reason.

Sydney shot me a look I couldn't interpret before smiling at Lissa. "Where do you want to go?"

"Who cares as long as it's away from here. Oh, and we can get tattoos!"

"What?" I was having serious issues following this conversation.

"I swiped some of your ink when I snuck out." She pulled a vial out of her pocket and waved it around proudly. "Sydney can do me, and then the Council has to let other Moroi go because I'll have proved that it's safe."

I really did think that it was safe, but I found myself reluctant to let Lissa be the guinea pig. Still, I was willing to compromise if it got us out of a road trip. "Okay, tonight we can break into a tattoo parlor-"

"No, we're not breaking in anywhere. We do this legally." Sydney was adamant.

"We can't legally use someone else's equipment," I pointed out. "And it's going to look really suspicious if we ask some guy to give Lissa a tattoo using ink we brought with us."

"But I can use someone else's equipment legally," she corrected me. "As long as I know the guy."

"Who do you know-?" I started to ask before the answer came to me. I groaned and buried my face in my hands. "You want to go to Arizona to get a tattoo?"

Lissa clapped her hands together in excitement. "Yes, it's perfect!"

Sydney pulled her keys out and tossed them over. "Here, why don't you go put your bags in my car?"

Lissa missed the catch, giggled, and then swiped the keys up off the floor. "This is going to be so great!"

I sighed and stood up. "I'll go with you."

"We have to pack our own stuff," Sydney stopped me. "Lissa can take care of herself. She's perfectly fine in the middle of the day."

"Of course I'm fine." Lissa giggled again before skipping out of the room.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded, rounding on Sydney as soon as we were alone.

She didn't flinch, which really went to show how comfortable she'd grown around non-humans. "Lissa can't be at Court in her current condition. And this is the first place someone would look for her."

"Okay, so we hide her away and dry her out." That much I could agree with. "But Arizona?"

"I have friends there. People who can help us. And the desert is not a popular destination for vampires. We'll be safe there."

I hated the word 'vampire,' but I let it go for now. "And how safe was it for you and Jill?"

"No one's actually after us this time," Sydney danced around the fact that I had a point. "We're not really on the run from enemies."

"Then why are we running?" I shot back.

"Because we don't want people to see Lissa like this. There's already been enough talk about her being unfit to rule. She needs to get herself under control before she proves them right."

I stared at her for a moment before yanking my duffel bag out and shoving clothes inside.

"So we're going?" Sydney asked hesitantly.

"I cannot begin to tell you the number of things I don't like about this," I said flatly. "But we're going to Arizona."


	5. Chapter 5

The drive to Arizona was…depressing, really. Lissa was in high spirits the entire time, although it's probably more accurate to say that she was high on spirit. She used it constantly, and the more I pushed her not to, the worse it got.

Lissa had sworn us both to secrecy regarding our impromptu road trip. I made the promise without an ounce of guilt, knowing I planned on breaking it the first opportunity I got. Finally at a truck stop in Kansas I got my chance.

Both of them went inside to use the bathroom while I filled the car up with gas. I had my phone in hand before the door was fully closed behind them. Without the slightest bit of hesitation I pressed number 2 on my speed dial, breaking my promise to my best friend.

"Rose." Dimitri's voice was full of relief when he answered, and more than a little desperation.

"Don't freak out," I told him. "Lissa is with me."

"Oh, thank God," he breathed. "At school? We looked but-"

"Not at school," I interrupted him. "We're in Kansas right now."

"Kansas?" I could hear the exasperation and knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Hey, don't blame me. This is not one of my crazy stunts. This is all Lissa and Sydney."

"Try to keep them where you are then," he told me. "If you need help bringing them home I'll come get you."

"Thanks, but no thanks, Comrade. I think Sydney has a point on this one. We can't bring Lissa back to Court right now. She's…you know, with Spirit," I had trouble admitting just how much trouble she was in. "It's bad, Dimitri."

"I know." The quiet sympathy in his voice did a lot to soothe me. "What do you need?"

"Sydney and I are going to get some help from her old teacher. See if she has anything that can help. I had hoped that just getting her away from everybody would make things better, but I can't get Lissa to stop using Spirit."

"Stop trying," he advised me. "She can't be reasoned with right now, Rose. You can't stop her from doing this. All you can do is be there for her when she needs you."

"It doesn't feel like she needs me at all," I complained.

"That's when she needs you the most," he assured me.

I stayed on the line a moment longer just to feel that connection with him. "Lissa made me promise not to call you. I'd better hang up before she gets back."

"I love you, Roza."

"Love you too, Comrade." I disconnected and slipped the phone into my pocket just as Sydney and Lissa emerged from the truck stop.

"We got snacks!" Lissa squealed excitedly, showing me the bag of junk food they'd purchased.

"Awesome!" I put as much fake enthusiasm into my voice as possible as we all piled back into the car for more hours of driving.

I took Dimitri's advice and stopped trying to pressure Lissa away from spirit, but it was still painful to watch. Equally painful was the realization of how much I had grown up over the past several years. Gone were the days when I could enjoy going on an illicit adventure with Lissa. I just wanted her home and safe.

By the time we got to Arizona, I felt like an old woman. Lissa was so hyped up about our trip and even Sydney was excited to see Miss Terwilliger and have some time to catch up. All I could think about was how much work it would be to smooth everything over when we got back to Court.

It was late when we finally reached our destination. Lissa popped out of the car, happy to have a reprieve from the harsh sun. I was at her side in a second, scanning our surroundings for any possible threats.

"Tattoo time!" Lissa crowed, waving the vial of ink around in the air.

"Slow down there, tiger." I snatched the vial out of her hand before she dropped it. "Let's go find a hotel room first."

She pouted like a child. "I don't want to wait."

"It won't take long," I assured her. "But it'll be easier to do it now before we get the tattoos. Once we're all done we can just back to the room and crash."

"Plus, I kind of want a shower before I see Miss Terwilliger again," Sydney piped up. "And, no offense, but you guys could both use one, too."

After three days in a car, there was no arguing with that. We piled back into the car and drove to the first hotel we came to. The clerk wasn't happy about all three of us sharing a room, but a little bit of Compulsion took care of that. I didn't approve, but there was no denying that it made life easier.

When we got up our room, Sydney claimed the shower first. I stretched out on one of the beds and almost immediately dozed off. Lissa was jumping on the bed, keeping up a steady stream of chatter. She didn't seem to mind that I was not holding up my end of the conversation.

I was so relaxed that when Sydney came back into the room I reacted without thinking. I dove for my silver stake, sending our things flying as I rolled to my feet, braced for the fight.

Lissa cracked up at my mistake. Sydney looked shocked at first before joining in the hilarity. I grinned sheepishly and tucked my stake away. "Sorry," I muttered. "Guess you startled me."

"My turn in the shower!" Lissa snatched up her things and bounded out of the room.

I lay back down on the bed, leaving Sydney to hunt through the mess I'd made of our things for her hairbrush. "Huh." She held up a pill bottle. "Birth control. Must be Lissa's."

I debated for one brief moment before reaching out and snagging them. "Actually, they're mine." We avoided eye contact awkwardly. "Just in case, you know? I mean, Declan might have been a fluke. Dimitri and I might not even be able to have kids. But you know…just in case."

"No, I understand," Sydney assured me. "Better safe than sorry. And if you don't want kids-"

"I didn't say I don't want kids," I protested. "I don't want kids now, but maybe, someday. And Dimitri wants kids. He'd be a great father. It's just…we couldn't hide it. Everyone would know something was different."

"When you're ready, you'll find a way." Sydney smiled at me. "You always do. You could…go into hiding and stage an affair with a Moroi."

I snorted and flopped onto my back. "Are you volunteering Adrian?" When she didn't answer, I propped myself up on my elbows so I could see her again. "Hey, I was kidding, okay?"

"What? No, I know. I just- I've never understood why you broke up with him."

"Of course you don't. You're in love with him."

"And you weren't?"

"No, I wasn't. And he wasn't in love with me, either."

"How can you say that?" Sydney demanded. "You broke his heart! And then you pulled out that terrible 'it isn't you it's me,' cliché."

"It wasn't him," I insisted. "And it wasn't me. It was us. We just- we both needed someone to ground us. We were too unstable on our own, let alone trying to build a relationship together. I couldn't make him a better man. He didn't want to be a better man. Not until he met you. And for me, it's always been Dimitri."

"Even when you thought he was lost forever."

"Even then."

Sydney studied me frankly. "I have to admit I've always felt kind of threatened by you. I mean, I never suspected you of trying anything, but you're the one that got away. And plus, just look at you."

"It's true," I said lightly, trying to break the tension. "I am very sexy."

Sydney chuckled and I relaxed some. "I always knew that I wouldn't be spending the rest of my life with Adrian. Hurting him was one of my biggest regrets for a long time. It's good to see him happy."

"Very good," Sydney agreed. But she continued to study me curiously. "Why do you say you always knew he wasn't the one? Because of Dimitri?"

"Because of Lissa," I corrected her. "A royal Moroi hooks up with a dhampir? He's got a right to expect that she'll be assigned to him and they'll settle down and live a quiet life somewhere. But I was never giving up guardian duty. Protecting Lissa is what I was born to do. For as long as she needs me, she comes first."

"And Dimitri gets that." Sydney shook her head. "You got lucky, Rose."

"Very lucky." I agreed.

"Who's lucky?" Lissa asked as she came out of the bathroom.

"We are," Sydney told her. "Lucky in love."

"Oh, girl talk!" Lissa flounced across the room and dropped onto the bed beside me. "Dish."

"You two dish," I said, grabbing my stuff off the floor. "I need to shower."

By the time I got out of the shower, we agreed it was too late to call Miss Terwilliger. Lissa was getting seriously impatient for her tattoo, but even she recognized that it was bad manners to wake up humans in the middle of the night.

Without really discussing the sleeping arrangements, Lissa and I ended up sharing one bed while Sydney got the other one to herself. My two friends dropped off almost immediately. I lay there for a long time, listening to Lissa breathe right beside me and wondering how we could be so close and yet so far apart.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Miss Terwilliger insisted we come over as soon as she found out we were in town. Well, she actually insisted that Sydney come over, but we were included in the invite. Either way, there was no way we were holding Lissa back any longer. She bounced in her seat like a little kid on the drive over.

It was a short drive, thankfully, because all three of us were about done with car rides for a while. We climbed out in front of Miss Terwilliger's house and she came out to meet us, along with Sydney's old martial arts teacher. If I had to guess, I'd say they were living together now.

Since he was our tattoo connection, that made things very convenient. It also meant that Lissa saw absolutely no reason to wait.

"If those idiots at Court aren't going to move forward with this, we'll just have to do it without them," she announced, producing the vial of ink she'd stolen. "Now, who's inking me?"

I saw Miss Terwilliger giving Lissa a worried look. I wondered if she'd spent enough time with Adrian to recognize the effects that Spirit had on a user. Whether she recognized the cause or not, there was no denying that something was wrong with Lissa.

Sydney and I exchanged glances. This wasn't really the purpose of our trip, but I saw no way to explain that to Lissa without much drama and fighting. "Let's just get this over with," I muttered.

Sydney nodded and explained what we needed. Martial arts guy led the way around the house into a shed that looked like it had been put together by someone directing a B-rated action flick. There were all kinds of weapons hanging on the walls, some of which I'm pretty sure had blood on them. The tattooing apparatus was shoved over in a corner.

Martial arts guy muscled it out into the center of the room. Lissa happily climbed up, handing the ink over to Sydney as she did so.

"So, a nice simple cross like Neal's?" Sydney asked.

"What? No way!" Lissa cried as she wriggled out of her sweater. She pulled a folded up piece of paper out of her pocket. "I want this. Right here." She reached back to tap on her shoulder blade.

Sydney unfolded the paper and shook her head. I peeked over her shoulder and saw the Dragomir crest sketched out on the page. "I don't know if I can do this," she said. "I'm not really an artist."

Martial arts guy took the paper and studied it. "I could do this," he said.

Lissa gave me a wide-eyed stare, clearly not sure about this. Magically, there was no reason he couldn't do the tattooing. It was the ink itself that was imbued with power, not the person using it. But Lissa was clearly reluctant to let a man she'd never met before who looked like a cheap pirate give her a permanent tattoo.

"Do me first." The words were out of my mouth before I could think them through. Damn it.

"We don't have enough ink for both of you," he said, holding the vial up and eyeing it critically.

It was the perfect opening for me to retract my offer, but then Sydney was speaking up. "But Rose doesn't need the special ink."

I probably still could have gotten out of this, but Lissa was looking at me with such relief and gratitude shining in her eyes, I couldn't back down. Damn it, damn it, damn it. I was seriously the best friend ever.

"Yeah, just use regular ink," I told him. "It'll be like a practice round. And then Lissa can see how it looks before she goes through with it."

Lissa suddenly frowned. "But what if you don't like it?"

"What's not to like?" I asked her. Actually, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of having the Dragomir crest imprinted on my skin. Beyond any allegiance to Lissa, who doesn't want a badass dragon tattoo?

I stripped off my shirt and straddled the chair, presenting my back to martial arts guy. "Come on, ink me."

I had plenty of experience being tattooed, but I was still surprised at how much it hurt. And how long it took. Of course, this was bigger than my other tattoos, and a new design for the artist. The dhampir artists could probably draw a promise mark in their sleep.

I appreciated martial arts guy taking his time to do it right, but it still dragged on as I sat there. Sydney and Jackie got tired of watching and went into the house to talk. I knew Sydney had a right to take time to catch up with her teacher, but I hoped they discussed our problem with Lissa as well.

Finally, I was done. Martial arts guy produced a mirror so I could see what it looked like. He'd made it black, with little red lines here and there to bring out detail. My first choice might have been something with a little more color, but I had to admit that it came out good. It looked…dangerous. I grinned at Lissa as he taped gauze over my back.

"Badass, right?"

"Very," she agreed. As soon as I stood up, she was taking my place. "My turn!"

I would have liked to have joined Sydney and Jackie at that point to see if they had any ideas about Lissa's problem, but Lissa was nervous about her first tattoo, so I stayed with her.

She took it like a champ. I sometimes forget how strong Lissa can be. I'm so used to being strong for her, I don't give her enough credit for being able to stand on her own feet. She was sweating by the time he finished taping her back, but I was proud of her.

We trooped into the house to find Sydney and Jackie deep in conversation. Thankfully, Lissa had to run into the bathroom, giving me a moment to talk with Sydney.

"Jackie can give us a charm that will prevent Lissa from using spirit, but I don't see how we could get her to agree to that," Sydney told me. "Plus, the spell will degrade over time, and then it's back to where we are right now."

"How long would it take to make the charm?" I asked.

"It's a pretty complicated spell," Jackie said. "It's hard to control Moroi magic with human magic. Even with two of us, it will take most of the day."

"You stay here with Jackie and work on the charm," I told Sydney. "I'll get Lissa out of your way."

"Even if it works, how are we going to get her to wear it?" Sydney asked.

"Leave that part to me," I told her. Hopefully, I would be able to make Lissa agree that this charm was necessary. But one way or another, we were cleaning her up before we went home.


	7. Chapter 7

It was easy enough to get Lissa out of Jackie's house on the pretense of leaving her and Sydney to catch up. We were going to spend a pleasant day exploring the area and then meet her back at the hotel that night.

At some point I was going to have to bring up the charm the humans were making for us, but Lissa was so excited about having matching tattoos and it was so much like just hanging out with my best friend again, I kept putting it off.

We didn't do anything all that special that day, but it will always be one of my favorite memories. We just wandered around the city, taking in all the sights and pretending that we didn't have the weight of the world on our shoulders. If Lissa had suggested running away, I might have gone for it.

The fact that I was seriously considering abandoning all of my responsibilities just to be on good terms with Lissa again is a pretty good indication of how strained things had become between us. Several times she seemed about to say something, and I'm pretty sure she was thinking about how far off track we'd gotten too. But neither of us wanted to end our little reprieve from reality, so we continued to ignore the cloud hanging over us.

Several times I thought I saw the same man following us, but I didn't give it much thought, since he was human. In all probability I was imagining things, but even if it really was the same guy, he was most likely just doing the sightseeing thing too.

We decided to buy dinner off of a vendor's cart, continuing the facade that we were two normal college students and not the queen of the Moroi and her lifelong bodyguard. Just as we were turning away from our food, a man stumbled into Lissa, knocking her tacos to the ground. I instinctively wedged myself between them, guaranteeing that all three of us ended up covered in rice and beans.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," the man kept apologizing. "I just wasn't watching where I was going. It's all my fault, I'm so stupid."

"No, it's no problem, really." Lissa assured him. She tried to reach around me to help brush some of our food off of him, but I refused to budge.

I could have sworn that this was the same man I'd been seeing all day. Standing in front of us reeking of cheap Mexican food and stumbling over his apologies, he seemed harmless enough, but I had a bad feeling about this.

"Here, let me replace your dinner at least." The man reached for his pocket. I stiffened aggressively, and didn't relax when he pulled out his wallet. He gave me a wide eyed stare as he inched around us to get to the vendor. I turned with him so that Lissa stayed behind me.

"You're scaring him," she whispered in my ear.

I glanced over at her. "Just stay back."

"Here you are," the man said, thrusting paper baskets of food at us. "And I added an extra order of nachos as an apology."

"You didn't need to do that," Lissa told him. Ignoring my glare, she stepped up to take the food. "Thank you so much."

"It was the least I could do." He stood there for another moment, awkwardly looking between Lissa and I. Lissa was beaming at him. I wasn't. "Well. Have a nice evening." He finally walked off.

I watched him go, still feeling that bad itch between my shoulders. "Come on," I started shepherding Lissa down the sidewalk the other direction. "Let's eat down here."

We walked until we found a nice bench to eat at. Lissa immediately sat down and dug in. I remained standing, scanning the area for any potential threats.

"Would you relax, Rose?" Lissa tugged on my hand. "Sit down and eat, okay? Accidents happen. Not everything is part of some evil plot."

"Everything that happens to us is," I muttered darkly. Still, I sat and ate. After a couple of bites I frowned over at her. "Does this taste funny to you?"

"We bought it off a taco truck, what were you expecting?" She nudged the other basket towards me. "Try the nachos, they're pretty good."

I nibbled on a couple, and they weren't bad. The thick cheese made it hard to taste anything else. I brought my taco back up and gave it a sniff. "Seriously, Liss, I don't…" I trailed off as Lissa let out a little giggle and slumped over. "Lissa!"

I jumped to my feet and my knees buckled under me. I reached out to take Lissa's pulse. For one panicked second, I couldn't feel it, and then I realized that I couldn't feel anything. My hands were numb. I tried to push myself up, but instead just fell over. I saw a pair of shoes coming towards us, but before I could roll my head enough to see who it was, everything faded to black.

* * *

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Lissa's back, allieviating the worst of my panic. Things were still pretty bad. We had been drugged, kidnapped, and were now currently tied up in an unknown place. But Lissa was with me, so I could work with this.

"Lissa? You awake?" I asked softly.

"Oh thank goodness," she replied, flopping around to face me. "I thought you'd never wake up."

"Any idea who took us or where we are?"

She shook her head. "No one's been in here since I woke up. I think someone's standing at the door, but I can't tell what or who."

I levered myself up awkwardly with my hands behind my back. I flexed my fingers. Even though the bands holding them together cut into my wrists painfully, I relished the sensation. If I wasn't numb anymore, that would make getting out of here much easier.

"It looks like a dungeon," I commented, taking in our surroundings. "Or Jackie's shed." There was a variety of weapons hanging on the walls, all of them looking very old.

"Maybe we're in one of those old Spanish Missions," Lissa suggested.

I shrugged; it was as good a guess as any. Struggling to my feet I turned around to get a look at the rest of the room. "Is that a canon?" I asked incredulously.

Lissa looked at it and shuddered. "I don't like this."

"I'm getting kind of used to it by now," I told her. The sound of footsteps moving towards the door filled me with dread, but it wasn't just the noise that made me afraid. It was the wave of nausea that swept through me. "I really hope that's just the cheap Mexican food," I muttered. Lissa shot me a questioning glance, but before I could explain the door swung open and my worst fears came true. The Master stepped into the room.


	8. Chapter 8

Derek followed the Master into the room, glaring furiously at me. "Not so tough now, are you?" he asked menacingly.

"Not nearly as tough as you, sending out a human to do your dirty work," I baited him.

"You're the one-"

"Children, children," the Master interrupted him, raising his hands in a gesture of peace. He smiled at me, the most genuine smile I'd ever seen from him. "Today is a very good day. I'm glad you're here to see it, Rose. I've missed you."

"I can't say the same," I told him.

"I do wish we hadn't lost you," he lamented. "But it's probably for the best. You wouldn't have been content to follow for long and then I would have had to kill you anyway."

"Or I would have killed you," I replied.

He laughed. "Still as cocky as ever. Well, that won't last for much longer."

Actually, I wasn't feel very cocky at the moment, but I didn't know what else to do. There had to be a way for Lissa and I to get out of this, but I couldn't see it.

The Master was already turning to Lissa. "I don't mean to ignore you, Your Highness. Such a distinguished guest. Tomorrow you will reveal your true self to the world and then we will rule side by side."

Lissa whimpered and cringed away as he leaned towards her. He laughed softly, caressing her neck. She flinched away.

"Oh, don't worry," he assured her. "I'm not going to awaken you. Much as I would like to, Derek has more than earned that honor."

Derek smirked at me and puffed out his chest. I saw my opportunity, slim though it may be, and took it.

"Like hell he did," I protested.

The Master turned and frowned at me. "Such language." He clucked his tongue. "What would your mother think?"

"Derek didn't earn anything," I said. "I beat him as a freshly turned Strigoi. I out-hunted him my first week of existence." I hated thinking of that killing spree, but right now I would use anything I had to if it kept us alive.

"Yes, you did," the Master acknowledged. "But I'm not sure what you're asking for now. Do you want to kill Vasalisa?"

That went in an unexpected direction. Of course, he might think I considered killing her better than seeing her turned. He had no way of knowing that Lissa couldn't be turned anymore, courtesy of her brand new tattoo. I never dreamed we'd have to put it to the test so soon.

"As per our agreement at the beginning of the game, Lissa's life belongs to me now." Not that I really expected him to just let us walk out of here, but I had to set the stage. When he cocked his head to show that he was listening, I played my last card. "If Derek wants to turn her, he has to fight me first."

Lissa gasped, Derek sneered, but the Master's reaction was all that counted. He threw back his head and laughed. I waited for him to calm down with bated breath. When he looked back at me it was with a fond smile. "Oh, Rose, if only I could have kept you. Even in this form you're so amusing."

Great, I was on the path to becoming a Strigoi's favorite toy. Which meant this was probably going to go my way, not that I was convinced that was a good thing.

"The challenge has been made, Derek," the Master said. "Let's see how you do against the fiercest dhampir in the world."

Derek dismissed me with a glance. "I will kill her if you wish, Master, but it will not be a fair fight."

"There's a point." The Master circled me slowly, obviously contemplating something. I was pretty sure that whatever it was, I wouldn't like it. "We'd better leave her hands tied."

And I was right. "Are you kidding me?" I burst out.

Derek was scowling furiously. Fantastic. I was about to enter a death match with a Strigoi, and the Master was using this opportunity to insult his right hand man. I wondered how long it would take the word to get out that Derek had to fight me with my hands tied in order to win. At least I would die with my badass reputation intact.

Lissa was staring at me wide-eyed, tears pouring down her face. I wish there was something I could do or say to reassure her but comforting platitudes didn't really cut it in this situation. I managed to clamber to my feet, determined to play this out as far as I could. "As long as I'm standing, no one can touch Lissa." I looked to the Master for confirmation.

He smiled, showing every single one of his pointed teeth. "Agreed."

I turned to stand between Lissa and Derek, refusing to meet her eyes. I stretched my neck, rolled my shoulders and shot my opponent my cockiest grin. "Let's do this."

Derek didn't waste any time in coming right at me. I tried to kick out at him, but quickly abandoned that effort since it threw me off balance. I didn't want to just stand there and let him kill me, though, so I did the first thing that came to mind and headbutt him in the face. I felt one of his fangs slice into my scalp and blood instantly covered half my face. Good going, Rose. Off to a great start.

My sarcastic little pep talk was cut short when Derek rammed me back against the wall. The breath whooshed out of my lungs and my head smacked into the stone, but it chased the panic out of my mind and cleared my thoughts.

Obviously, I wasn't going to be able to fight him off with my hands tied. That made getting free my number one priority. And for that, I needed a little space. The wall gave me enough support that I could kick up, knocking Derek back several feet. Before he could come at me again, I stole a quick glance over my shoulder. How convenient, a broadsword was hanging right behind me.

Okay, there is nothing convenient about a broadsword, especially an old, rusty one that you're using to saw through zip ties behind your back. Speed was more important than anything else right now, so I recklessly ran my arms up and down along the blade. I think I did as much damage to myself as my restraints. I could only hope that I lived long enough to die of tetanus.

Derek grabbed my collar, pulling me close so that he could hiss in my ear. "Maybe I won't kill you. I think I'd rather let you watch while I awaken your queen. Then she can finish you off."

I didn't trust myself to reply, afraid that I might let it slip that Lissa was now impossible to turn. In lieu of a witty comeback, I spat in his face.

Derek recoiled in disgust and slammed me back against the wall. It hurt, a lot, but it also finished the job I'd started with the broadsword, snapping the frayed zip ties around my a triumphant shout I brought my arms around wide and boxed him in the ears.

Derek fell back, but used the extra distance to plant a kick into my torso. Pressed up against the wall as I was, there was nothing to absorb the blow except my body. I could swear that I heard my ribs crack under his boot. Gasping for breath, I dove away from the wall before he could repeat himself.

Rolling to my feet, I sprinted to the opposite wall and grabbed the first thing that came to hand, a huge battle axe. The head was free from rust, though I couldn't vouch for the sharpness of the edge. Still, I beheaded my first Strigoi with a decorative weapon, so I wasn't without hope.

As I whirled to face Derek with my new weapon, the Master applauded. "We're on even ground now!" he announced. At least someone was enjoying this.

Derek certainly wasn't. He growled as he stalked me around the room, fury glittering in his eyes. I kept backpedaling as I hefted the axe, trying to get a feel for it. What I wouldn't give for a stake. I could stake a Strigoi with my eyes closed. I had significantly less experience beheading them.

When Derek rushed me, I used the handle of the axe to fend him off. I swung the axe like a batter going for a home run, and completely missed. While I was wide open and off balance, Derek landed three quick punches down my already abused ribs. It took every ounce of my willpower not to crumple to the floor right there. I drew short breaths in through my teeth, determined to not take my eyes off my opponent.

He grinned at me, obviously feeling better about this fight. That made one of us. I decided that I wasn't going to be able to chop his head off while he was standing. So somehow I was going to have to get him on the ground.

I dropped to the floor and kicked out, trying to knock his legs out from under him. He danced away from my attack. I lashed out with the axe, which bit deep into his thigh. He cursed and jerked back, almost yanking the axe out of my hands. I managed to hang onto it while I rolled back to my feet. Unfortunately, what should have been a debilitating wound on anything else wouldn't slow a Strigoi down at all. But at least now I knew that the weapon in my hands was sharp.

My breaths were coming in harsh gasps. I wasn't going to be able to fight much longer. I had to end this. Taking in as much oxygen as my ribs would let me, I hefted the axe and went on the offensive. Derek was more than happy to meet me halfway, and we stood in the center of the room beating on each other. I ignored his claws raking down my arm, more concerned with keeping his teeth away from me.

Finally I saw my opening and I took it. I smashed the flat of the axe head into his face. Reversing the weapon, I drove the handle into his stomach. He doubled over, hands clutching his face. I brought the axe around up high and swung it right into the back of his neck. He dropped to the ground. Two more quick strikes and his head rolled free.

I leaned on the axe, trying to catch my breath and slow my racing heart. I glanced over at Lissa and shot her a reassuring smile. She looked horrified. It's hard to be reassuring when you're covered in your own blood. I turned to the Master.

He didn't look angry. In fact, as he inclined his head towards me, I'd have to say that he was showing genuine respect. "Well done, Rose," he congratulated me. He took off his robe, revealing loose pants and a light shirt underneath. "Now it's my turn."


	9. Chapter 9

I didn't have the energy to swear at him. "This is what you had planned all along."

The Master shrugged. "Derek wanted to be the one to kill you. I gave him a fair opportunity to do so. Though I'm not disappointed that the honor will be mine."

"After you had your flunky soften me up," I sneered.

The Master smiled fondly at me. "You're very good at taunting your opponents. However, no matter how much I respect you, Rose, the opinion of one dhampir means very little to me. Especially one so close to death."

"I've got plenty of life left in me," I told him.

"For now," he agreed, stalking closer.

I hefted the axe, which felt like it had gained about a hundred pounds since I pulled it off the wall. The Master snapped his hand out and wrenched it out of my grip, my palms slick with blood, much of it my own. He danced back out of my reach before I could retaliate.

He turned the axe back and forth, examining it closely. "A fine weapon, I assume. I don't know much about them, really. It certainly did its job well with Derek." With a careless flick he tossed it across the room. "But nothing compares to the feeling of snapping a neck with your bare hands."

"Driving a stake through your heart would be a close second," I said.

"Too bad you don't have a stake." He aimed a punch at my head. I ducked out of the way and landed a solid blow to his kidney. I might as well have punched the wall.

Then he kicked me in the ribs and I knew that it wasn't good. Pain exploded in my side as I flew through the air and tumbled to the floor. I couldn't hear anything over the blood rushing through my head and my vision had gone blurry. I frantically tried to locate the Master. He was ignoring me now, crossing the room to Lissa.

Lissa, I noticed, had managed to crawl to the axe and get her hands free while the Master and I fought. She stood now, small, terrified, and incredibly brave, as death approached. But it couldn't have her yet.

Slowly, painfully, I pushed myself to my feet. "Hey!" I tried to shout, but my voice came out much weaker than I was expecting. "I'm still standing."

"Barely," the Master pointed out as he crossed back to me. "And not for much longer." He grabbed me and threw me across the room. I rolled to a stop at Lissa's feet."Why don't you two take a moment to say your goodbyes."

Lissa crouched down, tears streaming down her face. "Rose," she whispered, "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry?" I grinned up at her and felt my lip crack. "This is just getting interesting. Help me up."

"You shouldn't move right now," she told me.

"I shouldn't be lying on the floor when there's a Strigoi trying to kill us," I corrected her. Instead of giving me a hand, she was fiddling with her pant leg. "What are you doing, tying your shoe? Focus, Liss."

She turned her hand slightly and I saw a glint of silver. Lissa had just pulled a stake out of her boot. "What are you doing with that?" I hissed.

"Killing a Strigoi," she answered.

"Like hell you are. Give me that thing."

"You're in no condition to fight."

"Time's up!" The Master's announcement cut off my reply. "Though it really was touching to watch your final moments together." He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

Lissa stood up. I latched on to her arm so she had no choice but to pull me up with her. She tried to step around me. I reached back to hold her in place and tried to grab the stake off her. After a brief struggle, she let go. And as soon as my hand was holding the stake instead of her, she dodged in front of me, facing down the Master.

He reached out to pat her on the cheek. "A fine show of courage. I believe you will make an excellent replacement for Derek. But first things first." He shoved her to the ground.

"Touching her is against the rules," I reminded him.

He crowded me against the wall, leaning in until I could feel his breath on my face. "What are you going to do about it?"

I reached around him and drove Lissa's stake into his back. It was a little trickier than going through the front, but a Hathaway never misses her target. "I'm going to kill you, you bastard."

For one moment we stood locked together, his eyes full of disbelief as they stared into mine. Then I let go of the stake and he slumped to the ground. Lissa ran to my side. "You did it! We're alive! Rose, you're amazing."

"It was nothing," I puffed. "Piece of cake." I leaned against the wall and tried to catch my breath.

I couldn't hear anything over my breath wheezing in and out, but Lissa stiffened and turned to the door. "Someone's coming." She bent down and pulled the stake out of the Master's back.

"Lissa, don't be stupid," I told her.

"What's stupid is thinking that you can fight anyone right now, Rose. You can't even stand on your own." Lissa stood facing the door, stake in hand and panic like nothing I had ever felt exploded in my chest.

"I'm serious, Lissa, give me the damn stake," I snarled. I managed to push myself up off the wall, but before I could take a step I heard voices shouting our names. With a sigh of relief I sagged back against the wall. "I think we're being rescued."

Sure enough, the door burst open and Dimitri charged into the room, followed by Sydney, Adrian, and Christian. After taking in the room with a quick glance, Dimitri over to me. He lifted his hands as though to hold me, but didn't touch me. "What hurts?"

"Everything." I transferred my weight from the wall to him.

"How did you get here so fast?" Lissa asked.

"We came to Arizona as soon as Rose told us where you were," Christian said.

"She told you, did she?" Lissa shot me an accusing glare.

I shrugged, then immediately wished I hadn't. Hissing in pain, I clutched my shoulder. "I don't know what you mean about getting here so fast," I told Lissa. "They missed the fun part."

Dimitri pressed a kiss to my temple. "I almost believe you mean that."

"I for one am just as happy to have missed the fun," Adrian announced.

"What kind of rescue party are you?" I asked.

He grinned at me. "Better late than never, right?"

I laughed at that, then cut off abruptly as a sharp pain jabbed through my chest. With a little cry, I doubled over.

"Roza!" Dimitri sank to the floor with me. "What is it?"

"Can't...breathe," I managed to gasp.

Sydney knelt beside me and ran a hand over my ribs. I gasped in pain and she winced in apology. "She's broken several ribs," she said. "I think one of them might have punctured her lung."

Lissa knelt on my other side, but almost immediately stood up again. "There's too many drugs in my system. I can't heal her."

"Adrian!" Even before Sydney finished saying his name, he was taking Lissa's place. I waited for the pain to recede, but it didn't happen.

"Adrian," Dimitri snapped his name again.

"It's not...I can't...I don't know..." he looked up at Lissa. "I've never been as good at healing as you."

"If you can't heal her she needs a doctor," Christian said.

"I'm sorry, Roza." In one fast move, Dimitri scooped me into his arms and stood. I tried to scream as agony tore through me, but I still couldn't suck any air into my starving lungs.

Dimitri ran for the door, even his smooth strides jarring me painfully. Things began to swim in and out of focus. I heard words, but I couldn't process what they all meant.

"Put her down and let me try again."

"There's no time; she needs to get to the hospital."

"It's too far away, she won't make it."

"We shouldn't be moving her in this condition."

"We can hardly just leave her here."

I'm dying, I realized belatedly. I'd killed the Master, but not before he'd killed me, too. Son of a bitch. I really hated that bastard. I didn't want to die, but I was too tired to fight it. I turned into Dimitri's chest and let myself drift.

"Roza, no! You have to fight."

I was tired of fighting. I squeezed my eyes shut and silently apologized to the love of my life.

"We're losing her!"

"Let me try again."

"Lissa, you've already done everything you can."

"She'll die if we don't try something!"

I felt hard stone on my back and pried my eyes open enough to see Dimitri leaning over me. "Don't give up, Roza."

It was too late for that. Already my vision was going black at the edges. I took one last look at Dimitri and closed my eyes. A hand landed on my chest. Too small to be Dimitri's. I tried to reach up and cover Lissa's hand with my own, but my arm wouldn't move. The pain was fading, and although a tiny, rational part of my brain insisted that it was a bad sign, I was relieved to be going numb. I let myself fade with it, and then the last of the pain washed away in a searing wall of light.


	10. Chapter 10

My thoughts felt weird when I woke up. I felt different, but it was a familiar difference. I lay there for a moment and tried to make sense of my feelings. Guilt, shame, and regret took the lead. I sifted through my memories, trying to figure out why I felt that way. Of course, I had led my friends into horrible danger. It was my fault we'd almost died.

I was relieved to be rescued, but also a little scared of what the consequences of my actions would be. If only I had kept taking my pills.

That thought wasn't right. I was trying to put my finger on what was wrong with it when I was distracted by Rose. She was waking up! I hoped she would forgive me.

Why was I thinking of myself in the third person? As I came fully awake, I suddenly realized why my thoughts didn't feel like mine, and also why they were so familiar. I sat up abruptly, disoriented as I stared at myself through my best friend's eyes before making the jump back to my own head.

Lissa was watching me with wide, fearful eyes. Even if I hadn't just regained the ability to read her thoughts, it was easy to see that she was worried about my reaction to this unexpected turn of events. I wanted to say something comforting, to assure her that I didn't blame her for our latest brush with death. Still reeling from the shock, all that came out was one word.

"Shit."

* * *

 **Hey guys! What do you think of this latest development? Be awesome and let me know in a review. In the meantime, I have a short story in mind to wrap this whole Your Turn saga up, but it's going to have to wait until after the holidays. Thanks for reading and have a great Christmas. Cheers!**


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